Looking for the Ham Band, though, dimly remembered from some web surfing a year or so ago, we found the Iowa City Amateur Radio Club, which maintains a list of ham radio related music. The real gem there is CQ Serenade (mp3), a 1950’s big-band salute to the beat. As the site explains,

Maurice Durieux, VE2QS, an orchestra conductor for Radio Canada, assisted by F9KT, composed [CQ Serenade] in the early 1950’s. Durieux and Georges Brewer, then VE2BR, later wrote the English language version that appears here, and songstress Joyce Hahn (a stunningly talented vocalist), accompanied by Durieux’s orchestra, recorded it. It was available on 45-RPM records under the rather appropriate “QSO Records” label.

OK, so you’re a good egg, kinda like me. You can’t do the Eed Pebnista out loud either without using the Schoolhouse Rock riffs.

Let me warn you about something.

There is something worse than being unable to read Tennyson’s Lady of Shalot out loud to oneself without drifting into Loreena McKennitt.

Namely, getting about 3.5 lines into a 5 line stanza and realizing you have actually drifted into “Both Sides, Now” and can’t find your way back.

And then you start to…doubt. Now you’re singing softly to yourself. Did she do the whole poem? Do you remember? It’s all kinda background music until you get to the part you know. Was the song really that long? Don’t you wish you had it digitized, instead of in the closet somewhere in a CD notebook?

Anyway. Don’t every let ‘em tell ya that reading science fiction is uncultured. I actually found the poem because 3 lines of it are excerpted in an Eric Frank Russell story (Eustace) that I’d been reading since I was a kid. I put them into either Alta Vista or, heck, I don’t remember the other one at the moment, back in 1993 or so and found it.

Someone has, of course, posted it already. As they say, the dialog in the background totally enhances it.

Just be sure to buy the Season III soundtrack when it comes out in August, eh? I sure will, and this better be on it!

Oh yeah, the dialog contains spoilers out the wazoo, so if you haven’t watched Season III yet, stay back. Damn. It’s not often a season-ending has me on the edge of my seat, shouting “what the F**K?!?!” during the last couple of moments. Sheesh!!!

Reading some reality fiction with complex characters dealing with life, thinking about some my own past times, the Life of Buddha manga series, and the fragility of life in general. Today’s playlist brought to you by the incredible mix of happenstance and meniscus that flows through the universe, one cellular wall away from disaster, yet taping into a universe of staggering complexity.

YES!!!

Every now and then I go look up something I like that I can’t get any more. Today, after taking a bit of a trip through surf music land (inspired by an acquaintance’s page), I thought to myself, “I wonder if I can dig up a copy of Interstellar Suite”. I have an audio cassette copy made by a kind friend who introduced me to Amin Bhatia’s music, as well as some other memorable music (Happy the Man, for instance). If you’re out there reading, Hi Christina! Drop me an email, I don’t know how to reach you these days.

Anyway, the yeeha-factor is that I did in fact find pointers to Bhatia, and he is in the process of re-releasing Interstellar Suite! And has put up some audio samples on his site in the meantime. Oh yeah!!!